


Flying on Crooked Wings

by orphan_account



Category: The Walking Dead (TV), Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Brother and Sister OCs, Episode s01e05 Wildfire, How Do I Tag, OC, OFC - Freeform, OMC - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags Are Hard, That's exactly where it starts, Violence Against Walkers, Walkers (Walking Dead), starts in season one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-03-02 23:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2829383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At sixteen, Nikki wanted to be getting a job and her license. Not fighting for her life on the side of the road, her brother at her<br/>back and blood on her clothes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The hot Georgia sun was a curse in Nikki's opinion. At least it was to them, walking on the highway with no shade or hats to protect their heads from the heat. She wanted to complain, to curse, to rant and rave about how much life sucked but she knew her brother would get pissed if she did. Chris always had a real bad temper and that didn't change when the apocalypse started. In fact, it got worse. It had helped them a couple of times but more times than not it got them in trouble. Like when he was so pissed he punched a wall and alerted a whole building of Diseased that they were there. Nikki had been so pissed off afterwards. Her and Chris had gotten into a fist fight that had almost ended in Nikki getting seriously injured. Chris was way stronger than her and didn't always know when to stop. Luckily some Diseased came towards them and forced them to stop.

"How much farther to the CDC, do ya think?" Nikki finally asked. She was bothered by the quiet more than anything. She'd hated the quiet before the world ended and she hated it even more now that the world was silent besides the sounds of the dead.

"Maybe half a week of walkin' if we keep at this pace. Might be able to find a workin' car though if we're lucky." Chris told her. He wiped sweat from his forehead with his shirt. He'd pulled it off about three miles back when he just couldn't take the heat anymore. Nikki had glared at him for a solid ten minutes afterwards, annoyed that he could strip off his clothes but she couldn't. "We're on the highway so I assume we can. Some people might have just abandoned their cars instead of runnin' out of gas." He said.

Nikki eyed the vehicles about half a mile away from them and hoped that at least one of them had a little bit of gas. "Maybe the cars will have food." She said, the idea making her smile.

"We're doin' just fine on squirrels." Chris said immediately. They'd had this discussion so many damn times. He was getting sick of it. He was getting sick of everything. The heat, Nikki, walking, the fucking things trying to eat them. He was sick of it all.

Nikki's eyes were roaming the sky now, the clear blue empty sky. Not a cloud in sight but also no planes. Nikki couldn't decide which one bothered her more. She had hated planes before and now she'd give the world to hear one overhead. "I know but….I could go for some canned food. It would be a nice change." She admitted.

Chris stopped and whirled around, glaring. Nikki stopped immediately and stared at her brother. She looked a little fearful but mostly she just looked angry and bored. She was so used to her brother's anger by now that it didn't even really bother her anymore. "Enough! I'm fuckin' tired of you complainin' all the damn time! I'm tryin' my hardest to keep you the fuck alive and all you do is make my life a livin' hell!" Chris shouted at them.

Nikki kicked an empty can on the ground. "I thought it'd be the Diseased that would make your life a livin' hell." She said. She had very bad timing sometimes. Like right then.

Chris stormed over to her and grabbed her by the front of the shirt. He felt like hitting her with his bow or his fist but he was always careful not to hurt her too bad. Sometimes he got carried away like when he was blinded by his anger but usually he didn't hurt her. She was his little sister after all and the only family he had left. "Shut up." He growled at her before shoving her back. She stumbled backwards, tripping over her own feet. When she was stable again she glared viciously at her brother, her own brand of anger issues coming through. She used to get angry at a lot of things in the old world but in this new one her anger only showed up due to her brother and the things trying to eat them.

"Like you're so perfect! You complain all the damn time and I never say shit! You screw up a lot too but you never hear me tellin' you off!" Nikki shouted at her brother, getting in his face.

The sounds of the dead filled the air. Nikki and Chris took a step back away from each other and looked around. When they saw the Diseased coming at them from the side of the road the Dawson siblings fell back, holding up their weapons. Nikki had a bow, an expensive one her grandparents had bought her, and a bow quiver that held the only five arrows Nikki possessed. Chris had a shotgun and a bow just like Nikki's. They were pretty damn good with their weapons which had saved their lives more times than once. Their skills were gonna have to save their lives again apparently. Chris made sure his bow was secure on his back (he was so glad they'd bought bow slings before the world ended) before opening fire on the undead bastards trying to kill them. Nikki glanced at her brother before rapidly releasing arrows into the brains of the Diseased coming at them.

The Diseased didn't let up. They kept coming, out of the trees mostly, and the duo was steadily getting more and more tired. Nikki was out of arrows and Chris was out of bullets and trying to get his bow off his back (it was stuck on his backpack) while his baby sister shoved knives into Diseased skulls. When they heard the once familiar sound of vehicles they glanced towards the sound but not for long. They saw a line of vehicles, a RV at the lead, coming towards them before they focused back on trying not to die.

Nikki shoved her knife deep into the brain of a Diseased coming at her, killing it instantly. She tried to pull her knife out but it wouldn't budge. Panic immediately set in as Diseased continued to come at her while her one and only weapon was stuck. She wasn't strong enough to knock them down and stomp their heads in and she'd put her bow down so she could stab the Diseased so she couldn't exactly hit them with that. Chris couldn't help her; he was too busy fighting three Diseased at once to notice the two coming at Nikki. Nikki looked at the Diseased as she tried desperately to yank her knife free and saw in their eyes the animalistic drive to eat everything with a heartbeat. She felt a scream build up in her throat but she refused to let it out. If she screamed Chris would turn, paying no attention to the Diseased, and get bit. She refused to be the reason he died so she kept the scream in her throat, accepting her death.

An arrow pierced the skull of the Diseased nearest Nikki. She screamed in surprise and Chris did, in fact, turn to see what had happened. The Diseased in front of him lunged for his arm but a man in a cop's uniform came out of nowhere and stabbed the thing in the head. The second Diseased in front of Nikki kept coming but a man with a crossbow, the man who had just undoubtedly saved her life, came up and stabbed it in the head. Nikki looked at him with a mixture of shock, admiration, and gratitude. "Thank you." She breathed out. The man nodded to her but didn't say anything. Nikki stared at him for a moment before yanking her knife free and turning to her brother who was staring at the men and the group slowly getting out of their vehicles with distrust. "You okay big brother?" She asked worriedly.

"Yeah. You?" Chris asked, not looking at her. He didn't know who these people were and even though they'd only been out of safety for three weeks he already knew that strangers were not to be trusted. Strangers were dangerous and he didn't want anyone dangerous near his sister.

"A redneck knight with a shinin' crossbow just saved my ass so yeah. No scratches or bites thanks to him." Nikki told her brother, shooting her savior a smile that he didn't return. He huffed in a way that could have been a laugh though so Nikki didn't take his lack of a smile to heart.

Chris looked at crossbow man. Normally he'd be sizing the guy up but if his sister was telling the truth, and she would  _never_  lie about this, then this guy had just saved his baby sister and he owed him at least a thank you. He dragged his sister closer to him but nodded to the man. "Thanks." He said. He left the "I owe you" he'd usually say silent this time. Just until he knew what type of people this group was made up of. If they turned out to be good he'd let the guy know he owed him for saving his baby sister's life. Crossbow guy nodded but didn't say anything.

Nikki eyed her brother, expecting him to say more. He didn't though and she let out an exasperated sigh. "We really are grateful. Seriously. I'd be worse than dead right now without your help." She told the man. She'd learned that talking to strangers was even more dangerous in this world but she wasn't getting that "run for your life" feeling around these guys so she figured she could talk to them. She was an excellent judge of character most of the time. Feeling like she was safe again, she closed her pocketknife and tucked it away.

Chris shot his sister a death glare, furious at her for speaking to the strangers before he had decided how dangerous they were. She looked at him innocently but they both knew she knew exactly what she'd done. Chris could always see through her bullshit. He made a note to blow up on her later before looking towards the group of people that had piled out of the vehicles. There were women, some more men, and two kids. Not exactly a dangerous group then. "Quite a few of you." Chris commented.

"Not as much as we'd like." The cop said. Another man had joined him. A man with dark hair who was watching them in a way neither Dawson sibling liked. Nikki was getting a bad vibe from him and she took a step closer to her brother after retrieving her bow as casually as possible.

"You lose many?" Nikki asked, a sympathetic look on her face. The cop nodded solemnly and Nikki looked at the man and his group with empathy. "I'm sorry." She told them. There were small smiles and nods in reply, they accepted her sympathies and appreciated them.

"Is it just you two out here?" The man beside the cop asked.

Nikki wanted to tell the man to fuck off but she figured Chris would be pretty pissed off if she did. So she kept quiet. Chris took a half step in front of her, protecting her while simultaneously making it clear that he was in charge of the two of them. "Yes." He replied curtly, glancing back at crossbow guy to make sure he was leaving his sister alone. His worries were apparently unjustified. The guy wasn't even paying attention to them anymore. He was going around to the Diseased, picking out the arrows in their heads.

"Why's that?" The man asked.

The Dawson siblings were instantly pissed. "Hey we didn't ask you how you lost your people so don't go askin' us!" Nikki said furiously, taking a step towards the man. Chris held her back though he felt like he was gonna punch the man. He wanted to. Nikki definitely wanted to too but she wasn't gonna fight her brother to try it. "Insensitive prick." She grumbled angrily, turning away so she didn't have to look at the man that pissed her off. That was one way she dealt with her anger, turning away. For some reason, if the source of her anger wasn't right in front of her she could calm herself down easier.

"Watch your mouth." Chris ordered her, his eyes still glaring at the man.

"Fuck that!" Nikki said furiously, looking back at her brother. He looked back at her and their eyes locked. They glared at each other and the whole time Nikki was trying her hardest not to smile. She always smiled when she staring someone down liked this even when she didn't want to and it made her look psycho. Chris always got really mad when Nikki grinned while angry and he usually mocked her over it. Chris turned towards her and took a step closer, invading her personal space in an obvious threatening way. Nikki managed to glare at him for another minute before finally looking away. "Sorry big brother." She grumbled out before turning away again.

Chris glared at his sister a moment longer before turning back to look at the men. He glared right at the man that had pissed them off, displaying as much anger as possible in his expression. "You better watch your mouth too. We don't put up with assholes." He told the man.

"Shane was way out of line. He won't act like that again." The cop said firmly, shooting the man beside him an angry look. Shane shot the cop a not so nice look and Chris seriously doubted the cop could keep the man from saying anything. Still, it was better to just nod and pretend like he believed the cop. "What's your names?" The cop asked.

"Chris and Nikki Dawson." Chris told the cop. There was no harm in saying their first and last names anymore. It wasn't like they knew these people and names weren't exactly important anymore. People didn't really need names with the dead walking around trying to eat them. "What's yours?" Chris asked.

"Rick Grimes and this is my old partner Shane Walsh." The cop told them. The duo glanced over at Shane briefly before focusing back on Rick. "That's Daryl Dixon." Rick said, nodding towards the man still collecting arrows. "And I'll introduce you to everyone else when we stop again." He told them.

Chris frowned deeply. "You're actin' like we're comin' with ya." He told the man.

Rick stared at him, assessing him. The boy was obviously tough, he could tell that easily thanks to the boy's lack of shirt, and he seemed extremely protective. Rick figured he must be a good leader to have kept his sister alive for this long on his own. He'd probably need some very good reasons as to why they should come with them. "Would you rather keep walking? Straight into a city full of Walkers? You won't last too long on your own." Rick told the boy.

Nikki looked at her brother, her stomach suddenly in knots at the idea of a city of...did he just call the Diseased "Walkers?" Nikki liked their name for them better than hers. She was definitely going to start using that. "Bro, I don't want to go there if it's too dangerous." She said quietly, barely loud enough for the men around them to hear.

"We can get a car, drive straight through. They can't eat what they can't catch." Chris told his sister, sending a slight glare towards Rick. He was glad the guy had warned them but why did he have to throw in the bit about them not surviving? All it had done was scare his sister.

"What if there aren't any workin' cars? What then? The CDC isn't worth it if one of us ends up dead." Nikki said, worry obvious in her voice.

"You're heading to the CDC?" Rick asked. Chris shot his sister an angry look, why did she have to say that? He still didn't know about these people and he wasn't sure if he wanted them to know where they were going or not. "We're heading there ourselves. We could take you." Rick told the siblings.

Nikki perked up at the idea but Chris frowned. He wasn't so sure about this. What if they were tricking them? What if they tried to hurt them? Chris thought he could take the men down; crossbow guy would probably be the only difficult one. He was sure Nikki could take on the women if need be, she wasn't exactly weak and she could really pack a punch if she needed to. Would it even be worth it to go with these people? He could always get him and his sister to the CDC on his own. It would take a while though, he knew that, and when he glanced back at Nikki he could only think about how he wanted to quickly get her somewhere safe. He glanced back at the large group near the vehicles before turning back to Rick, his mind made up. "Alright, we'll come with you." He told the man. Rick smiled a bit and Nikki instantly perked up. Shane didn't look very happy and Chris glared at him. "But I'll be in charge of my sister. No one orders her around but me, got that?" The older Dawson sibling said.

"Wow Bro. Rude much?" Nikki said, giving her brother a sharp disapproving look. These people were being kind to them and her brother was being an ass. Typical.

"Shut up Nikki." Chris ordered her. She glared at him but listened, keeping her mouth shut as she turned away from him. Chris let out an aggravated noise before turning back to Rick and Shane. "We gotta deal?" He asked them.

Rick nodded. "Deal. She's under your charge." He said. At his words, the ready-to-fight tension in Chris's shoulders left. Rick smiled a bit more and turned towards his group. "Dale, you got any room in the RV?" He asked. Dale nodded in reply. "Alright, you two can ride with him." Rick told the siblings.

"Thanks." Nikki said brightly while her brother just nodded curtly. Rick smiled at her and she grinned back before turning towards the man who had saved her life. Daryl Dixon. Nikki liked the name. She smiled at him and when he just looked at her she pointed towards the arrows in his hand. Her smile faltered slightly as she did, uncertainty creeping up on her when she didn't get anything in return from the man. "We allowed to have ours back or are you keepin' them for yourself?" She asked the man, joking. Daryl didn't say anything, just separated their arrows from his and handed them over to her. Nikki cleared her throat awkwardly and focused on the arrows now in her hands. "Seriously, thank you. My brother would have had to put me down if you hadn't saved me." She told him, her stomach knotting up at the idea of what her brother would have had to do.

"No problem." Daryl grumbled out. He didn't know why the girl was thanking him again. He'd just done what anybody else would have done, saved a struggling girl's life. The only thing he understood about the girl was her concern for her brother. Daryl thought that if he might worry about his brother having to put him down too instead of worrying about actually dying.

Nikki smiled at the man one last time before turning to her brother and handing him his arrows. She noticed his gun still lying on the ground and frowned. "We're not leavin' Grandpa Bill's gun are we?" She asked worriedly.

Chris glanced back at the gun on the ground. He'd run out of bullets and it was pretty much useless. If he took it with them he'd just be adding dead useless weight to their load. But it was Grandpa Bill's gun. When he'd died, long before the outbreak, they'd treated his gun with the upmost care. It felt wrong to leave it even if he wasn't sure whether or not they'd ever find bullets again. "We're not gonna leave it." He assured his sister. Instantly her face brightened up with a huge smile. Chris smiled back at her before putting his arrows back in their slots.

Nikki carefully put away her own arrows, her eyes drifting to the group getting back into their vehicles as she did. She caught the kids staring at her and smiled at them as kindly as she could. The girl smiled back slightly but the boy looked to his mom, as if he was unsure whether or not he could smile back. Nikki huffed quietly through her nose, thinking the woman must be a strict mother. She eyed the rest of the group with interest, wondering what their lives had been like before all of this started. She noticed a blonde woman looking at her with a sad expression and Nikki couldn't stop herself from frowning or from concern appearing on her face. She wondered what made the woman look at her like that. She didn't like it. She focused on everything she could but the woman, trying to act like she hasn't even noticed the look.

Daryl watched the siblings for a moment, noticing how differently the two stared at everyone. The brother was staring at everyone with distrust and seemed to be sizing up everyone. The sister seemed more trusting though still a bit on guard and she seemed...interested? Like the group was some fascinating spectacle or something. Daryl shook his head; they reminded him a bit of him and Merle though neither of them had ever looked so raptly at something like the girl did at the group. They seemed tightly knit together, a team despite their obvious differences and their brief argument before. The older brother was definitely protective and definitely strict. Daryl pegged him to be a younger Merle right away. He wondered if the brother was as much of a drug user as Merle.

Daryl turned, started to walk back to his truck. Chris noticed this and quickly walked towards the other man. "Hey." He called out. Daryl stopped and turned, giving Chris a blank unreadable look. Chris walked up to him till they were just a foot apart, close enough for him to lower his voice slightly and not be overheard. "I owe you. For savin' my sister. Anythin' you need, I'll do." He informed the other man. Chris figured he could tell the man that now. They were going with these people so he actually had the chance to pay back the guy.

"You don't owe me nothin'." Daryl said. He hadn't saved the girl's life to get something in return. He didn't even want anything in return! How the hell was this kid supposed to help him with anything anyways? There wasn't anything Daryl could think of that he could ever need to ask help with. Well...except maybe finding Merle. But he would never ask the kid to help with that. He hadn't wanted Rick's help or anybody else's and had only taken it cause they wouldn't let him go alone so he wasn't about to ask a damn kid for his help.

"No. I do." Chris said firmly.

"It's like an honor slash pride thing." Nikki interrupted. She'd been listening in the whole time, wanting to know what her brother was saying. She usually listened in on conversations, not liking being left out of anything. She especially listened to Chris's; wanting to know everything happening to her brother in case something went down. "It'll be like a ball and chain around his neck till he pays you back. He's big on honor and pride and all that. Which, by the way, if my big brother is going to pay  _my_  debts then I should pay his." She said. She turned towards Rick who had yet to move, a slightly biting smile on her face. She noticed Shane still staring at them in a way she didn't like but she paid him no never mind. "Rick, thank you for savin' my brother's life when he turned around like an idiot and lost focus of the Walker in front of him. I owe you. Anythin' you need, I'll do." She told the man, mocking her brother on purpose. Despite the fact that she'd spoken to anger her brother, Nikki wasn't lying. If Rick wanted something, she owed it to him to do it. He'd saved her brother after all.

"I turned because you screamed! I thought you were about to get bit!" Chris said furiously, glaring viciously at his sister.

"Well yeah! But that's why I wasn't gonna scream! I knew you'd get yourself killed if I did!" Nikki said, sounding just as furious as her brother. She regretted her words the second they were out.

Chris was livid. "You were just gonna let yourself die?!" He shouted at her. His hands were clenched into fists and every vein in his arms was popping out. There was a vein on his neck too that popped out and throbbed with each angry breath he took. His jaw was locked and his face was red with anger.

"Better than lettin' you die!" Nikki shouted back. She was furious with her brother for being so angry with her but her body barely showed it. Her shoulders were tense and her expression was mad but the rest of her seemed calm. Her hands weren't in fists and she seemed to be shrinking back even when she was yelling. Daryl watched her and decided it must be because she expected her brother to punch her and was fearful of it. He could understand why. Her brother looked like he could really deliver a punch and though she looked strong she probably couldn't handle real punches from him too well. "I wasn't gonna let you die because I screwed up!" Nikki told her brother. In the old days she would have been tearing up by now but not anymore. She didn't have room for tears anymore, just anger.

Chris took a step towards her, to hit her or to keep yelling he wasn't sure. Rick stepped between them instantly. "Alright, I think that's enough." The man said. Chris glared at him but Nikki relaxed slightly, glad the argument was over. "We've made just a bit too much noise and are just a bit too close to the city to continue with this." Rick said. Nikki glanced back at the city and thought that he was right. Chris looked that way too and thought the same thing but grudgingly. Rick watched them, waiting for one to speak. When neither of them did he decided that they agreed with him. "Go on and get in the RV. It's time we move out." He told them.

The siblings didn't say a word. Chris grabbed the shotgun from off the ground before turning to his sister, giving her a look that said he was waiting on her. She ducked her head slightly as she walked past him, her eyes on the ground ahead of her. She looked beaten down, a considerably different demeanor than a few seconds before. She was still mad though, you could see it in her eyes. Chris was still mad too but you could see it in everything, from his walk to his face. Neither one looked at each other once as they climbed into the RV. Rick watched them, hoping the two didn't argue long and feeling as if he had done the right thing by taking them in.


	2. Chapter 2

Nikki carefully cleaned one of her arrows with the do-rag her brother had thrown at her without a word. She'd already wiped what blood she could off of her so now all she could do was tend to her arrows. She glanced around the RV, at all the people inside. There was a black woman who had introduced herself as Jacqui, the blonde woman who said her name was Andrea, an Asian boy named Glenn, a black man called T-Dog, and Dale. Nikki noticed Jacqui looking towards the bed in the back sadly and wanted to ask why but she figured it was a bad idea. She also figured that they'd recently lost a person, maybe on that bed, and that was why Jacqui was doing that. She kinda hoped so anyway cause why else would the woman be looking at a bed sadly unless she was crazy? Nikki shook her head, mentally assuring herself that the woman was probably sane if she was still in the group. She glanced up and noticed Andrea staring at her again. Nikki quickly looked down. She waited a moment then looked over at her brother who still looked a bit angry and definitely tense.

"Sorry." Nikki said. Everyone who could looked over at her. They all noticed at the same time that she was talking to her brother who was staring down at her. "About earlier. I didn't mean to make you mad." Nikki told her brother, her voice slightly hushed.

"Next time you better yell for me." Chris said immediately. His voice was stern and his expression glaring. Nikki nodded though she didn't know if she'd actually listen or not. "You're not dyin'. I'm not gonna let it happen. And I'm not dyin' either so stop worryin' about that and worry about yourself." Chris told her. To everyone in the RV he sounded pretty harsh but Nikki was used to it. She just nodded. Chris stared at her a moment. "I'm not mad at you. I get it. But you're not the leader, I am. And you're not older, I am. I'm supposed to keep you safe, not the other way around." He said. His voice wasn't nearly as harsh then but it still sounded mean to the people in the RV. Except Nikki of course. She knew every one of her brother's tones and recognized this one as his gentle tone. He had a tough sounding voice, always had and always would, so it was hard for people who didn't know him to recognize when he was being gentle.

"You're my brother. How am I not supposed to try and keep you safe?" Nikki questioned, her voice soft but at the same time demanding an answer.

"You don't have to keep me safe." Chris said firmly, giving her a stern and slightly aggravated look. Nikki opened her mouth to say something but whatever comment she was about to make was cut off by loud snarls outside the RV. They all looked out the windows, the conversation and the observing of it ending abruptly.

There weren't many Walkers outside but there were enough to put everyone on edge. Nikki tied the do-rag to her belt loop before preparing the arrow she'd been cleaning for possible use. Chris held his gun like he was ready to bash Walkers in the face with it, his bow once more on his back and forgotten for now. Nikki made a mental note to remind her brother the shotgun had a strap when she got the chance but quickly focused back on the situation at hand. Dale sped up and turned onto a Walker free road, thankfully leaving the undead behind. "Don't worry. Like you said Chris, they can't eat what they can't catch." Dale told them all. It didn't assure any of them just like Chris hadn't assured Nikki and they kept silent for the rest of the ride, tense and alert.

Nikki considered it lucky when they stopped outside the CDC without having anymore Walkers come uncomfortably close to the RV. She followed her brother out of the vehicle but wished she hadn't the second she was outside. There were corpses everywhere. Stinking rotting corpses. And flies. Nikki hated flies. She covered her nose and mouth with her hand, trying to protect herself from the smell. It didn't really work though and she eventually just let her hand fall. "Smells worse than your feet, Bro." She joked. She chuckled a little at her own joke, something she usually did. She liked to outright laugh at her own jokes too but only if others were laughing too.

Chris chuckled but shook his head. "Not a good time Nikki." He told her. She shrugged in reply before going on alert. Chris smiled slightly at her before copying her, his eyes scoping for Walkers.

The group started moving forward towards the building and the Dawsons followed them, hanging at the back of the pack. Nikki wanted to get in the throng, to feel a little more protected, but she wasn't about to leave her brother's side and he didn't seem to want to move any farther up. He had a plan. They'd stay at the back and if something happened they'd book it back to the vehicles. They'd steal one if they had to. Chris wasn't going to let his sister die. If the others died so that he could save his sister so be it. He didn't know these people. Sure they'd been kind but his family came first. Hopefully though nothing would happen. Hopefully he wouldn't have to stoop so low.

Nikki kept her eyes on their surroundings, her heart pounding just slightly fast. After the stuff that happened to them, the possibility of a Walker being around didn't really faze her. It was adrenaline more than anything making her heartbeat speed up. She made a low clucking sound as she moved, like she was calling a dog repeatedly. She always made that sound when she was thinking and she sometimes made it without noticing. Chris looked over at her, thinking that at any other time he would have told her to stop but he thought it wasn't doing any harm right now. The sound was low enough that it wouldn't attract Walkers from farther than a few feet and any within a few feet were going to attack them anyway cause they were there, not because of any noises they made.

The group stopped and the Dawson siblings finally stopped searching for Walkers to look at the CDC. Shane pounded on one of the shutters, knocking. Nothing happened. "There's nobody here." T-Dog said. Nikki felt the blood drain from her face and a sick feeling started building up in her. There was no one there. Their safe place, the place they'd been heading to for weeks, was gone. She felt someone tug on her arm, her brother.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick asked, pointing at the metal shutters. Nikki looked at them, hoping to God that someone was inside and about to let them in.

Chris tugged hard on his sister's arm. "Nikki, let's go! This place is a bust!" He said, starting to pull her away. He turned around to make sure the way to the vehicles was clear.

"Walkers!" Daryl called out just as Chris saw them. There was one close and some farther off but they were there. Daryl put down the one that was close before storming over to Rick. "You led us into a graveyard!" He shouted at the cop.

"He made a call." Shane said calmly. Nikki almost didn't hear him, her and her brother had gone at least six feet from the group and Shane wasn't very loud when he spoke. Chris was slowly getting them back to the vehicles. He passed Nikki the shotgun and pulled off his bow. If the Walkers got too close he was gonna kill them, not his sister. He frowned, when did he switch from calling the dead Diseased to calling them Walkers?

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl shouted furiously. Nikki nodded in agreement as she followed her brother back to the vehicles. She eyed the Walkers in the distance with worry.

Shane said something but neither Dawson was paying attention anymore. Chris glanced back at them, deciding that if they didn't follow soon he was gonna speed up and steal one of their vehicles. He'd prefer the truck but he figured a moving house, the RV, would be more useful. Lucky for the group though they started coming to them. Nikki thought she heard someone mention her and her brother but she wasn't sure. She figured they were mentioning how far they were from the group or saying that the siblings were right in going. She flinched when she heard Rick shouting at the security camera, feeling bad for the man who had obviously gone insane. She felt a moment's hope that the camera had moved, that someone was inside and could be talked into letting them inside, but she crushed it down quickly so she wouldn't feel too disappointed. It sprang back up though when they were halfway to the vehicles and one of the shutters rose up, opening up a way into the CDC. Nikki grabbed her brother's arm and started running back, not even having to drag her brother who was running just as fast back towards the building. They managed to catch up to the group just as they entered the building.

"Close those doors. Watch for Walkers." Someone ordered. Nikki couldn't tell who. She was too busy trying to stop her heavy breathing. She'd never gotten checked out by a doctor but she was pretty sure she had lung problems. Every time she ran, no matter the distance, it always made her breath heavy. Her body wouldn't be tired in the least but her lungs would be acting like they were dying.

Chris dragged his sister a safe distance from the doors, noticing how she was trying to breathe. He used to think she was just unathletic and he used to make fun of her for it but now he thought she might seriously have lung problems. She'd gotten at least fit before the world went to shit and yet after she ran she was still breathing like she was about to faint. Chris worried about her. He tapped on her arm and she looked at him. His expression asked if she was okay and she nodded. She pointed back to the doors that the other men were trying to close, telling him to help. Chris looked around to make sure she was in a decently safe spot before taking off towards the doors. Nikki sucked in deep breaths as she kept an eye on herself, putting the shotgun on the ground so she could hold her bow high and keep an arrow ready to be fired into the face of any Walker that came at her.

"Anybody infected?" Nikki jumped in surprise at the voice. She turned towards it and saw an unkempt man with a gun not far off.

Rick seemed surprised by the man but he replied. "One of our group was. He didn't make it." He told the man. Nikki shot Rick an annoyed look, thinking that he shouldn't have even mentioned that. There was no point in telling the armed stranger that and it probably would do more harm than good letting him know that. Nikki thought that if they had known one of their group had died because of the infection her and her brother would have demanded a search of everyone for bites. Probably wouldn't have gone with them either.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" The stranger asked. He seemed very wary of them.

"A chance." Rick replied after a moment's pause.

"That's asking for an awful lot these days." The stranger pointed out. Nikki had to agree. She was surprised the group had even taken her and her brother in. Rick could only reply with a simple "I know." The man stared at all of them, observing them. Nikki stared at him right back, observing him. He looked like he'd been awake for a couple of days and he looked...the only thing that came to Nikki's mind when she saw his clothes and unshaven face was that he had given up. She didn't know why that sprang to her minds but it did. She felt her stomach twist in knots. If a man in the CDC had given up then all hope must be lost. "You will all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission." The man told him. Nikki's mind went to needles and she grimaced. Rick told the man that the group would comply. After a moment the man lowered his weapon. "You got stuff to bring in you do it now. Once those doors close they stay closed." He ordered them.

The group listened beautifully. Chris joined his sister while a few of the men rushed out to get the things everyone requested. They didn't need to grab their things, they'd never put them down. The Dawson siblings passed the time by eyeing the man still standing where the group had left him. He noticed them staring but didn't meet their eyes. Nikki glanced over at her brother, giving him a look that said she was concerned about all this. He reached out and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, silently telling her he'd keep her safe. She passed the shotgun back to him and he took it silently, slipping it onto his back. Nikki gave him a small smile as the men came running back in with all their stuff. They followed the group past the man and stopped when the stranger stopped by a control panel.

The stranger pressed a button on the panel. "Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here." He ordered someone. Immediately, whoever he'd ordered complied. Rick introduced himself to the man, holding out his hand. The man looked away from him and introduced himself as Doctor Edwin Jenner.

Jenner led them to an elevator and instructed them to get inside. Nikki and Chris ended up stuffed in the back by Daryl. He gave them a sideways look but didn't say anything. Nikki stared at him a moment before focusing on Jenner who had gotten into the elevator. He pressed a button and the doors closed. The elevator started moving and Nikki suddenly had a white knuckle grip on her bow. She hated elevators. Hated the feeling in her stomach she got when it seemed to rise then fall again halfway through the descent, hated the way they sometimes shook, hated the way they were metal cages hanging over a large empty space that at any moment they could free fall into. Chris noticed her discomfort and let out a short but highly amused laugh. He never thought he'd be able to laugh at his sister's hate of elevators again. It made him smile.

"Doctors always go around packin' heat like that?" Daryl asked, nodding pointedly to the gun in Jenner's hands.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself." Jenner explained. Chris thought the guy had been right to. In this world you should always know how to handle a weapon. Jenner looked around at all of them. "But you look harmless enough...Except you." He was looking down at Carl. "I'll have to keep an eye on you." He joked. Nikki smiled, finding it really great that someone other than her was still willing to joke around. Carl smiled too and his smile lasted a while after Jenner turned away. Nikki smiled at his smile, glad a kid could still be happy in this world.

The elevator doors finally opened and they piled out. Nikki couldn't help pushing at people a little, she was eager to get out. Once she was on solid ground she visibly relaxed. Chris shook his head at her but mussed up her hair. Her hair was a mess. It was extremely curly, as it had been since she hit puberty, and it was poofy. On good days it was actually very pretty and even on moderate days it was pretty but it tangled very easily and it got huge when it was humid out. She made an angry face and ducked away from him, immediately yanking her hair out of its ponytail. She held it together with her hand, keeping it in a ponytail look so none of the strangers would see how bad her hair was. She washed it when she could, in creeks and such with the products she kept in her bag, but it had been almost a week since she'd showered. She was self conscious even now; she didn't want anyone to see her even worse than she was now. Nikki pulled her hair back into a neater ponytail as they walked with the group down a hallway, shooting her brother angry looks. He frowned at her, annoyed that she was mad but only as little. His annoyance went away when she gave him a slightly annoyed smile.

"Are we underground?" A woman with short hair, the little girl's mom Nikki was pretty sure, asked.

"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner asked. Nikki frowned, their mom had been claustrophobic. She had been such a small woman too so in crowds she usually got squished and had claustrophobic attacks. Nikki could remember them well. God she missed her mama.

The woman eyed the ceiling above them. "A little." She admitted.

"Try not to think about it." Jenner told the woman.

Nikki let out a short laugh that ended in a sort of snort. Everyone looked back at her, giving her odd looks and, in some cases, disapproving looks. Nikki smiled but she could feel her face heating up. "What? He's  _really_  bad at comfortin' people and I find it funny." She told the group, smiling still. They all looked away but some exchanged looks that said they thought Nikki might be insane. Nikki instantly felt angry but she felt the familiar deep throb of pain beneath her anger. She'd always been worried before the world went shitty that there was something wrong with her. Seeing other people clearly thinking she was insane seriously hurt her.

Chris noticed how hurt his sister was despite how absolutely none of the pain registered on her face. He glared at the group then slung his arm around his sister's shoulders. "I thought it was funny too Nikki." He assured her. She gave him a small smile, knowing he was trying to cheer her up, before looking back at the group. Neither Dawson noticed the sideways look Daryl gave them or the sad look Andrea sent them.

Jenner led them into a large dark room. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." He ordered as they walked in. Immediately lights started turning on and the room hummed as they did. Jenner turned to look at them, noticing how they stared around the room with awe. It was understandable why they were awed. They hadn't seen electricity in a while. "Welcome to Zone Five." Jenner said, not happily.

"Where is everybody? The doctors? The staff?" Rick asked. He clearly hoped Jenner wasn't the only person there.

Jenner looked rueful. "I'm it. It's just me." He told them.

"But you were just talkin' to someone. She turned on the lights." Nikki pointed out. She thought of something just a second later and her expression turned into one of fright. "Oh God, please tell me it's not an AI." She said, a slightly pleading note to her voice. Chris looked over at her in confusion; he didn't know what an AI was.

Jenner looked a tad impressed. "An AI of sorts." He told her. Nikki's shoulders slumped immediately and everyone realized that what Jenner had said wasn't good. "Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them...Welcome." Jenner said to the AI.

"Hello guests. Welcome." The AI said immediately. Nikki shuddered at the voice, remembering a movie she'd seen that had involved a psycho AI.

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry." Jenner said. He let the news that he really was the last man standing sink in before speaking again. "Come on. I still need to take your blood." He said, walking past all of them. They all exchanged mixed looks before following him out. Jenner led them to a room Nikki thought looked like a classroom. As he started taking blood from people Nikki started fidgeting. She always hated being vaccinated and the one time she'd had blood drawn she could barely stand it. "Alright young lady, you're turn." Jenner said once Andrea had gotten up. He was looking straight at Nikki, his expression still slightly concerned after hearing Jacqui talk about none of them having any food for a while.

"I don't want to give blood." Nikki said though she still sat down where Jenner wanted her to. Chris walked over and stood by her side, offering quiet support. "Not that I'm afraid of needles or anythin'. I just don't trust anyone who will willingly stab me." Nikki said, eyeing Jenner with a bit of distrust.

Jenner laughed quietly. "I don't blame you." He told her. Nikki smiled in response, missing the needle going into her arm. The second she knew it was in though she focused on it, glaring at it like she thought it would kill her. As she saw her blood being drawn she felt a little sick. She also felt twitchy. She could feel the needle in her arm and she wanted to move her arm and dislodge it. She knew she couldn't though or else she'd probably end up hurting herself. Jenner glanced up at her for a second. "Sorry." He said.

"Nah, it's fine." Nikki said immediately, not wanting to look like a pansy. The second the needle was out of her arm though she was up out of the seat. It gave her a head rush and she stumbled a bit, her hand clutching the side of her head and her vision going incredibly black for a long time. Chris rushed over to his sister and supported her as she nearly fell over. "Whoa, head rush." Nikki laughed though she sounded a tad concerned.

"You alright?" Chris asked worriedly. He'd never seen her like that except when she was either sleep walking or sick. He didn't like it.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Totally fine." Nikki said. She blinked her eyes a few times and her vision came back slowly. "Yay! I can see again! See, good as new!" She told her brother. Chris gave her a doubtful look but she just smiled and moved away. She slumped against the wall, her head swimming with worry. She'd never gotten head rushes that bad before. And she'd only ever felt this weak when she was extremely sick, like that time she had a hundred and four temperature.

Chris sat down in the chair his sister had vacated, his eyes still on his sister. She looked worried and sick. "She okay?" Jenner asked, looking over at Nikki with at least some worry.

"She will be. Just needs somethin' to eat and some rest." Chris told the man, hoping that he was right. Nikki had never needed much to eat to be healthy, a meal a day usually was enough though she'd eat two if she was being greedy, but she'd eaten a lot less than usual lately. They'd ran out of food the week before and hadn't been able to catch much since so she'd had maybe four meals the whole week. They'd been pretty small meals too. Chris hoped if he could just fill her stomach up she'd be alright.

Jenner emptied the syringe of blood into a container. "Alright, all done." He said. Chris looked at his arm and at the container of his blood in surprise; he'd been so engrossed in worrying about his sister that he hadn't even noticed his blood being taken. Jenner sealed the container before turning back to the group. "Now, I think I can solve your hunger problem." He said, getting up. The group looked at him hopefully, a few stomachs rumbling as they did. "Come on, I'll show you to the kitchen." He said, leaving the room. The group followed after him immediately, eager to get some food in their stomachs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I wrote another fic when I told myself I wouldn't. Sue me. Anyways, hope anyone who happens to read this likes it! Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Nikki smiled as she helped T-Dog with making dinner. It'd been a long time since she'd cooked a real meal. She used to do it on occasion to give her mom a night off or when her grandma asked her for help but since everything went bad she hadn't had a chance to really cook. It made her feel good to cook again. She smiled cheerfully as she stirred the boiling noodles and hummed one of her mom's favorite songs. Chris could hear her and he smiled. It was the lime and coconut song from Practical Magic. Her and their mom had liked to dance around and sing it when they were in a good mood.

"So Chris, Nikki. How long were you out walking like that?" Lori asked from where she was sitting at the table. Everyone but T-Dog and Nikki were at the table, each of them waiting for the food to be done.

"Three weeks." Chris answered. He scratched something off the table and flicked it away, making a face as he did. Nikki looked back at her brother, wondering if he was bothered by the three weeks they'd been out on their own. She knew how difficult it had been, she'd been there, and she knew it had bothered her but she was never entirely sure about her brother. They hid their problems from each other pretty well.

The group was surprised. They knew how hard it was to survive in a group so how had these kids survived on their own? "That long? How did you survive?" Andrea asked, the only one brave enough to ask.

"We had a truck for a week so it wasn't too bad." Nikki said, her attention on the noodles in front of her. She turned off the burner and carried the pot over to the sink where a strainer was sitting inside. She poured the noodles and water in, careful not to let any of the hot water burn her arms. "And we were careful." She added.

"We're also smart and our family taught us how to survive." Chris told them. He looked towards his sister who shot a smile at him over her shoulder as she put the now strained noodles back in the pot. There was a slightly sad look in her eyes though at the mention of their family.

"You hunt?" Daryl asked from his seat. He'd noticed how nice their bows were and how well they handled them so he figured they did. He wanted to know for sure though. If they could hunt then maybe he wouldn't be the only one who had to provide the group with food if they ever had to leave the CDC. He figured at least Chris would hunt with him. The kid probably wouldn't let his sister hunt with them despite the fact that she seemed capable of taking care of herself…mostly. The whole knife incident said she still needed a watchful eye on her.

Chris nodded but Nikki decided to give a real answer. "It was kind of a Dawson family requirement that everyone know how to hunt." She said. T-Dog smiled at her as she took the spoon from the sauce he was making and took a small taste. Her eyes lit up and she smiled at him, giving him a thumbs up as she did. His smile grew at that. "Chris is better at it than I am. He can use a gun, I can't, and his aim with the bow has always been better. I don't think I'm too bad though. I hit the target more often than not." Nikki said. She licked her lips, getting a bit of sauce off of them, and smiled again. "Freakin' a, T-Dog. You're a good cook." She told the man.

"Thanks little lady." T-Dog replied, grinning now. He went back to stirring the sauce but glanced over at Nikki and Chris. "You two don't sound local. You live somewhere else besides Georgia?" He asked.

"Southern Illinois, born and raised. We moved down here just a few weeks before the outbreak." Nikki told him. She didn't say why they moved, she couldn't bring herself to say it. Thinking about their grandparents' deaths made her sad. "Your accents are all really thick, you know that? You're just so much more southern than we are." She said, forcing herself to stop thinking about their deceased family.

A few people chuckled at her and Chris cracked a smile at his sister. She always did laugh at the weirdest things. When the amusement died off Rick decided to finally ask a question that had been gnawing at his mind since they ran into the kids. "So how old are you two?" He asked them. They looked young and that bothered him. Kids shouldn't be on their own in this world even if they knew how to survive.

"I'm eighteen. Nikki's sixteen." Chris answered. He could remember their last birthdays pretty clearly. They'd just had simple dinners with the family at the house but they'd been special because of that. It'd been their last birthdays with their family…

"I can legally drive!" Nikki joked, raising a spoon in the air like a scepter of sorts. The adults laughed and Nikki grinned happily. She bounced over to a cabinet and pulled out a stack of plates. "Doctor Jenner, what can we drink?" She asked as she set the plates down on the counter.

"Well there's water, some soda, and there's a decent supply of alcohol I can grab." Jenner replied. At the mention of alcohol, all the adults and Chris perked up. Jenner noticed this and he went to get the drinks. By the time he came back Nikki had passed out glasses and T-Dog was piling food on top of plates. Jenner wheeled a whole cart of alcohol up to the table and set a six pack of soda on the counter. "Drink what you like." He told them before walking over to the farthest corner of the room and sitting down.

Within twenty minutes everyone was eating and drinking and laughing their butts off. Nikki smiled at everyone, glad they were all smiling and laughing. She took a sip of her soda. Chris had asked her if she wanted alcohol but she had refused. The world was over but she still didn't want to drink. She'd seen what drinking did to people and she had decided that she never wanted to get drunk. Ever. Besides, she loved soda. It was nice being able to drink it again.

Chris laughed as Dale and Rick tried to convince Lori to let Carl drink. He felt good. Great, in fact. It'd been a long time since he'd had a drink. He was glad no one had protested him drinking cause he would have been pissed. He needed some alcohol. Had needed it since the outbreak. It was good to feel the familiar buzz coming on. "Come on Carl, you don't want any of that stuff! It's disgustin'!" Nikki called down to the little boy, a smile on her face. Chris looked over at her and smiled. It was good to see her smiling and joking. She was still loud and obnoxious like she used to be but he hadn't seen her looking this content in a while. He felt pretty good knowing she was happy.

Nikki was ignored by the adults but Carl smiled at her. Nikki smiled back before focusing on her food. She didn't really like pasta, in fact she kind of hated it, but her and Chris's mom had loved it. Plus, this was the first real meal she'd had in forever. So she ate it, swallowing down the slightly disgusted feeling that grew in her stomach. She cast her brother a grimacing smile that he laughed at before focusing on Carl who had finally been allowed to take a sip of wine. When he made a disgusted face and groaned at how horrible the taste was she burst into laughter with everyone else.

"I told ya not to drink it!" Nikki called out, grinning. Carl gave her a look that said he wished she had listened to her. Nikki let out a short joyful laugh at his expression.

"Just stick to the soda pop there, bud." Shane told the boy.

"Not you Glenn!" Daryl called out. He had a bottle in his hand that Nikki was pretty sure had become his bottle. Daryl didn't seem like the type of guy who shared his alcohol. Glenn looked up at Daryl in confusion. "Keep drinkin', little man. I want to see how red your face gets." Daryl told him. The men laughed mainly at that. Glenn looked a tad embarrassed and Nikki gave him a slightly sympathetic look though she was still smiling.

Rick clinked his fork against his glass a moment or two later. "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly." He told the group. Everyone immediately looked back at Jenner.

"He is more than just our host." T-Dog said, raising his glass in the air. Nikki nodded in agreement, Jenner was their savior. She may find him iffy but he was still their savior.

Everyone shouted in agreement and Daryl let out a loud "booyah!" Nikki laughed, thinking it was funny, then whooped with everyone else. Chris whistled like people used to do at their school football games and yelled out before hitting his glass against someone else's and downing its contents. Nikki cheerfully hit her glass against the little girl's, Sophia if the group wasn't lying, before downing about half of her glass of soda. She looked back in time to see Jenner's poor attempt at a smile and to see his eyes fall to the floor. Her stomach twisted into knots instantly. She tried to assure herself that everything was fine but she couldn't bring herself to believe her own assurances. Jenner just seemed too off to her. He had this feeling to him that just made Nikki twitch. She looked away from him, focusing on the little bit of food still left on her plate.

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane asked, his voice cutting through the joy. Everyone instantly quieted and looked at him. Chris's brow furrowed slightly in a bit of a glare while Nikki outright glared at him. She really did not like him. He was ruining the first good moment they'd all had had in a long time. "All the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened. Where are they?" Shane asked.

"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now." Rick said, his voice soft but firm. Nikki agreed with him completely.

"Whoa wait a second. This is why we're here, right?" Shane asked, sounding mean. Nikki glanced back and forth between Rick and Shane. Something seemed off about their relationship. She figured they knew each other a long time, Shane was Rick's second in command, but Shane seemed to sort of hate Rick in her opinion. She wondered if they had fought recently or something. That would explain why Shane sounded like he wouldn't mind punching Rick. "This was your move. Supposed to find answers but instead we," Shane chuckled and Nikki couldn't stop herself from shuddering at how mean it sounded, "we found him. One man. Why?" He said.

Nikki pushed her plate away from her. "You just like to remind people of their losses, don't you?" She asked the man furiously. She wondered if he was an idiot. Obviously the other doctors had left or killed themselves. That was the only logical explanation for the severe lack of people cause she highly doubted the government had had only one man trying to solve everything.

Shane glared furiously at Nikki who glared back, no fear or shame in her eyes. She didn't mind the fact that she'd pissed of an adult. Age didn't matter anymore in this world, heart and mind did. Chris clenched his hands into fists, glaring over at Shane who glanced over at him once. He was ready to kick the older man's ass. If he tried to hurt Nikki Chris would definitely kill him. No one hurt his sister. Rick stood up again. "That's enough." He said firmly, giving each of them a hard look. Nikki felt bad for upsetting a nice guy like him and she reluctantly relaxed back in her seat, having coming up out of it slightly in case she needed to defend herself from the clearly very pissed off man. Her glare didn't waver though and she kept her eyes on Shane. He looked away from her though, turning his eyes down at the table. He still looked pissed. Chris kept glaring but he relaxed his fists just slightly. Rick, satisfied that they weren't going to do anything to each other, turned back to Jenner. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to." He told the other man.

"We deserve answers, Rick." Shane said firmly, his eyes snapping up to their leader. Nikki considered taking her fork and stabbing Shane's hand with it.

Shane turned his eyes on Jenner when Rick said nothing and everyone else did too, waiting to see what the man would do. Nikki grimaced when she realized Jenner was going to tell them what had happened. "Well when things got bad a lot of people just left. Went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted." Jenner told them. He was keeping something to himself, everyone could tell.

"Every last one?" Shane questioned. Nikki glared viciously at the man. He really was a gigantic asshole.

Jenner paused for a moment and Nikki thought that the memories must be hurting him. "No." He admitted finally. "Many couldn't face walking out the door. They…opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time." He told them.

Nikki bit her lip. "Doctor Jenner, I'm sorry to ask but what do you mean they couldn't walk out the door? Were they too afraid of the dead or could they just not go out there and admit they'd given up?" She asked as politely and as gently as she could. She was curious and she knew that if she didn't ask it'd haunt her.

"I think it was a bit of both." Jenner told her. He didn't seem bothered by her question but that was probably because she wasn't being a total dick like Shane.

"You didn't leave." Andrea pointed out. "Why?" She asked.

Jenner remained quiet just a little longer than he should have and Nikki felt like he was going to lie to them when he spoke next. "I just kept working. Hoping to do some good." He told them. Nikki frowned, yeah he was definitely lying.

Everyone was silent for a moment as they took in all that the doctor had said. It was Glenn who broke the silence. "Dude, you are such a buzz kill." He told Shane, looking glum and a bit annoyed.

"Couldn't agree more." Nikki mumbled into her glass as she lifted it to her lips. As she took a drink she noticed Shane giving her an angry look. She stared at him over her glass and wondered how long it would take for the man to flat out hate her.

It wasn't much later that Jenner decided to give them a tour of the facility. He walked them down a brightly lit hall and Nikki looked up at the lights, remembering how she'd once enjoyed sitting in the dark on her laptop and comparing that to how she craved a working light bulb now. "Most of the facility is powered down, including housing, so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable but there are cots in storage if you like." Jenner told them. Nikki glanced over at her brother and wondered if he'd make her sleep on the floor or a cot. She didn't know that Chris had already planned to surrender the couch to her, knowing she preferred a couch to a cot. "There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy." Nikki perked at the idea, wondering if there'd be anything interesting to do in the room. "Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies if you shower. Go easy on the hot water." Jenner said.

The whole group brightened at his words. "Hot water?" Glenn asked in disbelief. None of them had had hot water in a long time. Rivers and creeks and ponds never got too warm and that's all they'd had for weeks.

"That's what the man said." T-Dog said, grinning away. Happy laughter came from the group at the thought of warm showers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was my Christmas gift to all of my readers. Thank you so much for readying. Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, whichever one you prefer.


	4. Chapter 4

Nikki turned the knobs of the shower and stepped in. Immediately, she was surrounded by warm water. She let out a happy laugh and started scrubbing off as much dirt as possible. She didn't waste too much time on that though. She needed to wash her hair badly. Carefully, she grabbed the bottles she'd brought into the bathroom and placed them down by her feet. She grabbed the shampoo and started cleaning her hair. By the time Nikki got out she was grinning. She felt clean. Nice and clean. And not sick either. She had a real problem with heat, it made her sick a lot with heatstroke, which was kind of funny seeing as she lived in a hot as hell state. Luckily though she knew how to keep cool and also luckily she didn't turn the hot water up very far. Warm was good enough for her.

Once she was out, Nikki carefully wrapped a towel around herself and made her way over to her clothes. She dried off as much as possible, wrapping her soaking wet hair up in the towel when she was done, before pulling on her pajamas which were just a pair of work out pants and a loose fitting tee. She smiled; she hadn't gotten to wear pajamas in a while. She gathered up her dirty clothes, her toiletries, and her brush before making her way out of the bathroom and down the hall to the room her and her brother had picked out. She knocked and he told her to come in. She was surprised to see that he was setting himself up a cot.

"I'll sleep on this. You can have the couch." Chris told her. Nikki nodded though she still looked surprised. She placed her things down on the couch where her backpack was. He grabbed his backpack from off the floor and made his way to the door. "I'm gonna go shower, probably grab another drink afterwards. What about you?" He asked her. He needed to know where she'd be. If she wasn't where she said she was when he came back he'd be worried as hell.

"I'm gonna go down to the rec room, see what there is to do in there. If it's borin' I'll come straight back here and get some sleep." Nikki told her brother. She wanted to wander around, to look at everything and maybe ask Jenner some questions on the technology, but she knew he didn't quite trust the safety of the place yet and didn't want her wandering off where he couldn't immediately find her. Chris nodded to her before making his way down the hall to the bathroom.

Nikki wrapped her wet toiletries like her shampoo and conditioner up in the towel she took off of her hair before leaving the room. She brought her brush with her and tried as hard as possible to get all the tangles out of her hair. She'd barely gotten the ends untangled by the time she made it to the rec room. She was so frustrated but the second she saw the shelves upon shelves of books her frustration left her immediately. A huge grin spread across her face.

"Oh thank you God for deliverin' me more books." Nikki said, practically running across the room to look at the large collection. Her eyes greedily swept over the books, picking out the ones she recognized and the ones that sounded interesting. She didn't notice there were others in the room till she heard Sophia quietly giggle and her mom, Carol, shush her. Nikki turned around in surprise, her face turning red. "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you guys." She apologized.

"We don't mind." Carol said, smiling gently at the young girl. Nikki smiled back, the heat slowly leaving her face. "Do you like to read?" Carol asked.

"Oh I love it." Nikki answered immediately, her voice taking on an almost rapturous tone. "I used to read all the time before all this. I wrote too. I was actually goin' to have a book published before the dead started walkin' around." She said, talking a tad quick. She always talked quickly when she was thinking out loud or very interested in a topic. Carol gave her an impressed look and Nikki smiled. She turned around and ran her hand over the spines of the books. "I could read the seventh Harry Potter book in a few of hours, easy. A two hundred page book I could read in little over an hour if I took a break." She said, a hint of sadness creeping into her tone. She hadn't been able to read like that for a long time. She'd packed a series of paperbacks in her bag, just five light books that she had loved, but she hadn't gotten the chance to read a single one of them. She missed reading. Nikki grabbed a book off the shelf. Peter Pan, one of her favorites. She smiled and brought it over to the couch with her. "I loved readin' this. And I loved Alice in Wonderland too." She told the woman.

Carol smiled at her and at how she was looking almost lovingly down at the book. "Why don't I brush your hair while you read?" She suggested, her hand coming out to grab the brush from Nikki's hand.

Nikki looked at the woman in surprise. "Seriously? You wouldn't mind? My hair is kind of wild." She said. She didn't want the woman to suffer untangling her hair without knowing how dangerous a task it was. Carol still held her hand out for the brush, her smile widening. Nikki handed it over willingly. "Your funeral." She joked. Carol laughed quietly.

"Will you read to us?" Sophia asked quietly as her mother started to brush Nikki's hair.

"I'm not much for readin' out loud." Nikki said sheepishly, thinking over how her brain liked to go faster than her lips and how that usually led to her messing up. She saw the disappointed looks that appeared on Sophia and Carl's faces and smiled slightly. "But I think I can get over it." She told them. Instantly they perked up, grinning happily up at her. Nikki quickly turned to the first page and started reading. "All children, except one, grow up." She began, feeling her heart swell up at the familiar words.

The kids listened in delight for four chapters before Nikki had to stop to gather her breath. Reading out loud, it made her lose her breath. Nikki cursed her weak lungs and apologized to the kids for having to take a break. Carol looked at her with sympathy. "Do you have asthma, sweetie?" She asked, running the brush through one last tangle.

"Not sure. We never went to the doctor to find out, didn't think it was that big of a deal." Nikki admitted, her cheeks red with shame. She didn't think she had asthma, she just thought she was weak. Weakness was something to be ashamed of.

Carol gave her a pitying look before pulling the brush through the last tangle, getting rid of it completely. "You have very thick hair." She said, patting Nikki's hair to emphasis the point.

Nikki laughed, she already knew that but it was funny when someone found it out. "Yeah, I know. And even when wet it's still curly as all get out." She said, her words shaking with laughter. She was trying to keep her language carefully G rated for the kids in the room. "I did warn you." She told the woman. Carol laughed quietly, nodded, and smiled at her. She reminded Nikki of an extremely kind teacher she had had in middle school and it made her smile.

"I think it's beautiful." Carol told her, playing gently with the still wet curls that were dripping all over the place. "I would have loved to have your hair back when it mattered." She admitted.

Nikki guffawed at that. "No you wouldn't have. It's a pain to take care of." She said though she was still grinning. She reached back and grabbed a long perfect curl and pulled at it, stretching it out. "Sometimes it looks really pretty when it dries. I just have to avoid humidity." She said, somewhat to herself.

"It gets huge, like an afro, if she doesn't." Chris said, walking into the room. There was a bottle of whiskey in his hand but he didn't seem to be too drunk or anything. He was grinning like crazy and Nikki thought that he looked happier then than he had in weeks. She rolled her eyes when she saw that he was shirtless yet again. "That's why I say I got all the looks." He said as he stopped behind the couch.

"At least I got the brains! Brains are more important than looks." Nikki said defensively, glaring slightly up at her brother. Chris rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair a little. She ducked her head away quickly and grinned up at him. "Enjoy your shower?" She asked. She certainly had enjoyed hers so she figured her brother had enjoyed his.

Chris nodded and took a drink from his bottle. Nikki watched him, frowning in distaste at the alcohol. She wouldn't say anything about it though. It would ruin her brother's good mood if she did and she certainly didn't want to do that. Luckily she was distracted before her brother could finish taking a drink. Lori had come into the room, a wine glass in hand. Carol and the kids looked over to see who it was and smiled when they saw Lori. "Any good books?" Lori asked, smiling.

"Soooo many." Nikki gushed, closing her book and hugging it to her chest. Chris smiled down at her, glad she was getting to read again. He knew it had been bugging her. "There's enough here to keep you guys busy for years and me busy for two months." She told the woman. Carol, the kids, and Chris all laughed at that while Lori smiled. She looked a tad confused, not understanding how much of a bookworm Nikki was, but she hid it well enough.

Carol looked at the clock on the wall. Nikki was surprised it was still working. She was also surprised by how late it was, it didn't feel like two in the morning to her. "Come on kids, time for bed." Carol said, getting up.

"Same for us." Chris said, patting his sister's shoulder. Nikki got up, taking her book with her. She wasn't gonna leave it; she wanted to finish reading it. "And I mean it. You're goin' to sleep, not stayin' up till nine in the mornin' readin'." Her brother told her sternly.

Nikki rolled her eyes at him as she followed Carol and the kids away from the couch. "Yes boss." She said sarcastically. Chris smiled slightly, knowing she wasn't going to listen to him. Nothing could keep Nikki from doing what she wanted or saying what she wanted except herself. Occasionally a death look from him would get her to listen but other than that she usually only listened to herself.

"Baby, go say your prayers. I'm gonna browse a bit." Lori told her son, walking towards the bookshelves.

"Well don't read Lord of the Flies. You'll get very,  _very_ , upset." Nikki said seriously, frowning at the memory of having to read the book for class. She'd thrown the book across the room and gotten in trouble at a couple of parts.

Lori gave her an amused look but nodded, silently agreeing that she wouldn't. Carol was smiling brightly at everything. "You know, this is the first night we might actually get some sleep." She told them. They all made sounds of amazed agreement. None of them had had good sleep in so long. Carol tapped Sophia's nose. "It's a miracle, isn't it?" She said to no one in particular.

"Definitely." Nikki said cheerfully, a blissful look on her face. Chris slung an arm around his sister's shoulders and walked with her, smiling slightly the whole time. They were still alive, still together, and in a place that was actually safe. He could live here, his sister could live here, they could all live here and not fear dying from a Walker bite. It really was a miracle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for the long wait. I have problems with time and I never remember when to update. Feel free to message me. I do see them and they do remind me. Thank you all for reading! (By the way, sorry if this one is a bit short.)


	5. Chapter 5

Nikki was having a nightmare, Chris could tell. She was tossing and turning a lot more than she usually did while she slept and she was mumbling things he couldn't catch in a heartbroken voice. He knew exactly what she was having a nightmare about too. Their parents. Losing their parents, to be specific. Chris didn't want to think about it but he'd realized that without the threat of Walkers hanging over their heads he had nothing to distract him from thinking about it. Their poor parents.

It had been an accident. They'd fortified their home, made it safe, but then they'd let in some survivors who had begged for their help. One of them had been bit. They turned in the middle of the night, killing everyone but Chris and Nikki. Chris buried his face in his hands. He'd woken up to their mom screaming and ran out of the room in time to see her get her throat ripped out by the one turned survivor not yet put down. Their dad was on the ground, already dead. Chris had killed the turned survivor but by the time he did their mom was dead. Nikki had run out of her room and was staring in shock at their dead parents. She'd broken down into tears. Chris had had to put bullets in their heads so they wouldn't turn.

Chris wiped furiously at his eyes, hating the tears that were falling out of them. He made sure there was no sign of them before getting up off his cot and walking over to his sister. He grabbed her shoulder and shook it hard. Immediately her eyes flew open and, before she knew who had her, she screamed. She swung a fist but Chris caught it. "Nikki! Nikki it's me! You're awake! I'm not a Walker!" He shouted at her as she thrashed on the couch.

Nikki slowly stopped freaking out as his words hit her. When reality had sunk in she collapsed back onto the coach, breathing heavily. "Sorry. Sorry." She whispered, closing her eyes. She was shaking and she quickly closed herself into a ball to try and stop herself from doing so.

The door to their room burst open and the Dawsons jumped in surprise. They both looked at the door and when they saw that it was T-Dog and Dale they looked shocked. "We heard screaming." T-Dog said, looking worried and a bit panicked.

Instantly, Nikki's face went redder than a rose. "I was havin' a nightmare, sorry." She said, her eyes on the ground. When she heard the men let out relieved sighs she looked back up. When she saw the weapon in T-Dog's hand a look of confused amusement appeared on her face. "Were you gonna beat up the threat with a fryin' pan?" She asked him, nodding to the pan. T-Dog looked at the frying pan in surprise, obviously not realizing he'd picked that up as a weapon. Dale grinned and Chris cracked a smile while Nikki laughed. "Not bad if you're plannin' on cookin' the threat into food." She joked.

"I was about to cook some eggs." T-Dog said embarrassedly.

"I'll help you. Just give us a minute or two to dress, okay?" Nikki said, getting up from the couch. T-Dog nodded and started walking back to the kitchen. Dale started to follow him but stopped and sent a concerned look to Nikki. "I'm  _fine_ , Dale. Just a bad dream." She told the man, sounding exasperated. Chris looked over at his sister, having picked up on something the other man had definitely missed since he didn't know Nikki as well as Chris did. To Chris, she sounded familiar with Dale. Like she'd known him for years. Nikki sometimes did that if she got along with someone, treated them like she'd known them for years even though she might have only known them a day. Chris shook his head, his sister formed bonds with people so easily.

Dale listened to her and left a second later. Chris grabbed his clothes out of his bag once he was gone and walked over to the door. "I'm gonna change in the bathroom. You change while I'm gone. I'll knock before I come back in." He told his sister. She nodded to him and he left, closing the door behind him.

Nikki changed quickly, knowing how quickly her brother usually changed clothes. She pulled on a comfortable pair of pants, a tank top that was sorta loose, and her tennis shoes. She didn't know why she pulled her shoes on but it just felt weird not to. It had felt weird not sleeping in them the night before, like she was missing something that she really needed. She  _did_  really need her shoes before they arrived at the CDC. At any moment her brother could have told her to run so she never risked taking off her shoes. She guessed it would take some time before she could get herself to not wear the shoes during the day.

Chris came back a few minutes after she was done changing and stuffed his stuff inside his bag. He'd told her before bed not to unpack anything just yet, that he just didn't feel right doing so yet. Nikki understood his reasons and didn't unpack. It was just like with her shoe thing. "Come on, dork. Let's get some food." Chris told her, leaving the room.

T-Dog actually didn't need that much help when they got there. Which Nikki thought was a very good thing seeing as she couldn't cook eggs worth a damn. She helped with what she could though; grabbing whatever T-Dog needed so he wouldn't have to leave the eggs unattended. People slowly started to enter the kitchen and sit down. Jenner came in at one point too and dropped off some pills for the many hangovers in the group. She thanked him along with the rest of the group before continuing to help with breakfast. She fetched glasses and everything else that people asked for. When the first two people sitting at the table that she got things for didn't thank her Chris made a point of thanking her loudly when she brought him orange juice. The group immediately started thanking her and Nikki shot her brother a grateful look.

Rick came into the kitchen when Nikki finally got to sit down and eat some eggs. "Are you hung over?" Carl asked his dad. Nikki shot him an amused look and shook her head. "Mom said you'd be." He said.

"Mom is right." Rick said, giving his son a smile as he sat down.

"Mom has that annoying habit." Lori joked as she picked apart her food. Nikki smiled at the family of three as her heart ached painfully. She missed her family. She missed how they used to joke around and laugh and be happy. Now they were dead. Now it was just her and Chris and they were always fighting.

T-Dog walked over to the table, loudly announcing the arrival of eggs. Glenn groaned at how loud T-Dog was and Jacqui tried comforting him. Dale laughed and Nikki giggled into her juice, trying to hide her amusement so as not to hurt the Asian boy's feelings. T-Dog distributed the eggs, teasing about how they'd help the hangover. Glenn just groaned in reply. "Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again." He told the group when Lori mentioned some of them needing the pills more than others.

"You should have stuck to the soda like the kids." Nikki said, smiling as she stacked her eggs up into a pile. Glenn groaned but there was a trace of agreement in the sound. Nikki smiled at him and gently pat his hand in sympathy.

Shane came walking in, alerting the room to his presence by greeting Rick who greeted him back. Nikki looked up at the man and glared slightly. She still didn't like him. She paid close attention to the conversation and noted how the claw marks on his neck didn't look like they had been self inflicted. Nikki got a bad feeling about Shane in her stomach when he looked at Lori just a little too long. The woman looked away from him so quickly and some of the color had left her face. Nikki put two and two together pretty easily. Something had happened between Shane and Lori last night that had made Lori attack Shane. She decided to avoid him even more from then on, if that was possible.

Jenner came into the room a moment later and greeted everyone. He got quite a few hellos as he headed straight for the coffee. "Doctor." Dale said, his voice suggesting he had a bit to talk about. "I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing." He said apologetically.

"But you will anyway." Jenner said, sounding somewhere between annoyed and not surprised at all.

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea said firmly, almost angrily.

Jenner looked back at all of them, seeming to debate whether or not to give them answers or not. Nikki locked eyes with him a moment but his eyes quickly darted away. She frowned, her mind rapidly going through all the reasons people couldn't look into the eyes of others. Shame and guilt were the main ones she could think of but she didn't know why Jenner would be ashamed or feel guilty. "Alright. After breakfast, you'll get all the answers you want." Jenner told them. He turned away, getting his coffee. He then sat down in the corner of the room again, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"I tried makin' an omelet once." Nikki said out of nowhere. A few people looked over at her. "It didn't go well. It turned into a scrambled omelet about halfway through." She said, stabbing a pile of eggs with her fork.

"I remember that. I came back from football and found you eatin' it with a spoon out of the pan." Chris said, his eyes on his food. Nikki smiled and others laughed. Chris looked up at them and smiled slightly. "She was too lazy to clean a bowl." He told them.

"I don't like doin' dishes!" Nikki said defensively though she was smiling. She stuffed food into her mouth greedily. "It's gross! Especially when you touch soggy food." She said, pushing the food to the inside of her cheek for a moment so she could speak.

Chris hit the back of his sister's hand with his fork. "Don't talk with your mouth full." He told her. She rubbed the back of her hand and grumbled out something he didn't catch but made Glenn chuckle. He watched his sister smile down at her food before looking around at the group. His sister was forming quick bonds with all these people and she had barely even spoken to them. It amazed and worried him. What if stuff happened and he decided they had to leave the group? She wouldn't want to go and, if they did go, it would hurt her deeply. He didn't want to hurt her but, shit, if this group turned out to be bad he was going to have to do whatever it took to keep her safe.

Breakfast ended pretty quickly afterwards, everyone really wanted to get some answers apparently. Chris smirked as his sister grumbled out complaints about people who ate fast as they all followed Jenner back to the big room. "Give me a playback of TS-19." Jenner ordered Vi once they were in the room. Vi repeated the end of his sentence as whatever TS-19 was loaded up on the gigantic screen on the wall. "Few people ever got to see this. Very few." Jenner told the group. Nikki stared up at the screen with interest, her eyes wide as they tried to take in everything on the screen. Nikki watched as the solid head of a human turned transparent, presenting the brain and brainstem. This was way better than science class had ever been.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked, looking over at Jenner.

"An extraordinary one." Jenner told the boy. Nikki glanced over at him in time to see a sad look appear on his face. "Not that it matters in the end." He added. Nikki shuddered at the thought of brilliant minds no longer existing. She hadn't really thought about it before but now she did. All the smart people were dead. The world was now filled with normal people, idiots, cowards, and all different types of monsters. "Take us in for E.I.V." Jenner told Vi.

The screen focused in on the image of the brain as Vi said "Enhanced Internal View." Nikki's eyes lit up, she was going to see the image of the inside of a brain! While it was alive! The head turned on its side till it looked like the head was lying down. Then the image zoomed in, filling the whole screen with images of the brain. Nikki's jaw dropped. It was…beautiful. Very beautiful. Lights shot all through what Nikki thought was brain tissue. They reminded her of what she thought nerves did when they were hurt.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked the doctor.

"A person's life. Their experiences and memories. It's everything." Jenner said, facing all of them for a moment. "Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you. The thing that makes you unique and human." He told them.

Nikki let out a quiet breath of awe. "It's so beautiful." She whispered. Jenner seemed to have heard her because he looked over at her, a sad smile appearing on his face.

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl said, not looking in the least bit ashamed that he didn't understand.

Jenner didn't make fun of Daryl for not understanding. Instead, he simply explained it a bit better. "Those are synapses. Electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says, does, or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death." He explained. He was looking at the brain image with a mixture of respect and awe. Nikki thought that he must have seen the video a few times before but she had to admit that she probably would still look at the images with awe even after a thousand times of watching it.

"Death?" Rick spoke up for the first time. "That's what this is? A vigil?" He questioned the doctor.

"Yes." Jenner answered. "Or, rather, the playback of the vigil." He corrected himself. Nikki looked up at the screen again, sadness stealing over her. This person had died. This person with a brain that lit up brighter than the Northern Lights was dead. Nikki looked at the ground, feeling something close to disappointment. Like she had just won something huge but lost it on a technicality.

"This person died? Who?" Andrea asked, her eyes fixed on the screen. Nikki didn't know why that mattered. It wasn't like Andrea could have known whoever the brain belonged to.

Jenner looked over at Andrea then back up at the screen. "Test Subject Nineteen." He told her. Nikki gave the man a curious look, wondering why he didn't get them a name. "Someone who was bitten, infected, and volunteered to have us record the process." Talking about Test Subject Nineteen seemed to be bothering him. He kept pausing and there was something in his eyes that said there was so much more to this person than he was letting on. "Vi, scan forward to the first event." Jenner ordered the AI.

Nikki immediately refocused on the screen as Vi obediently did as she was told. The video scanned forward and Nikki was shocked to see the changes that had happened to the brain. There was this black thing inside, shaped almost like a heavily branched tree. It grew from the brain stem and spread out. She shuddered at the sight of it. "What is  _that_?" Glenn asked, sounding about as horrified as Nikki felt.

"It invades the brain like meningitis." Jenner said, informing them that the black thing was the virus. The thing that made dead people turn into Walkers. Nikki watched as the black spread farther and farther at a truly alarming rate. "The adrenal glands hemorrhage. The brain goes into shutdown then the major organs." Nikki sucked in a shaky breath as the whole of the brain suddenly went black. "Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be…gone." Jenner sounded so sad. Nikki looked at the ground but suddenly couldn't help but feel a tad glad. That meant the things her brother had had to put down really hadn't been their parents anymore.

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked, her sweet childish voice ringing out in the mostly silent room. Carol confirmed that it was.

The group was silent as the grave for a moment. Andrea interrupted the quiet, sniffling and alerting everyone to the fact that she was crying. Nikki looked back at her in sympathy, figuring the woman had lost someone important. Jenner looked over at her, not understanding why out of everyone she was the only one crying. "She lost someone two days ago." Lori told the doctor. "Her sister." She added, a bit quieter. Nikki looked at Andrea in alarm. Her sister? Nikki wondered if it had been her younger sister. It would explain why the woman looked sad every time she looked at her.

Jenner walked over to Andrea. "I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is." He told her, his voice hushed but still loud enough for everyone to hear. Andrea didn't say anything to him, seeming unable to, and Jenner eventually turned away. "Scan to second event." The doctor ordered the AI. "The resurrection time varies wildly. We have reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours." Jenner said. Nikki stared up at the screen again, feeling guilty for feeling eager to see what would happen next. She wanted to understand this thing. She didn't know what good it would do, knowing the little bits, but she wanted to know them. "In the case of this patient it was two hours, one minute, seven seconds." Jenner told them, his voice cracking just slightly.

Something slowly bloomed inside the person's head. Something red. It glowed brightly and moved about like the blue lights before but this was different. The light didn't go very far, staying in one little are. It looked menacing. "It restarts the brain?" Lori asked in horrified amazement.

"No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving." Jenner explained.

"But they're not alive?" Rick questioned. Well, maybe not questioned. He sounded unsure, like he really didn't know. He sounded somewhere between a question and a statement.

Jenner gestured to the screen, to the dead person on it. "You tell me." He said, his eyes not leaving Rick.

Rick stared up at the screen and shook his head. "It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark." He said, half to himself and half to Jenner.

"It's not a person anymore." Nikki said, her eyes glued to the screen. Jenner turned his eyes on her but she didn't see him. She couldn't pull her eyes from the screen no matter how much she wanted to. "There's no synapses. There's no thought. No memories. They're just a body. A soulless movin' thing." She sounded horrified. More scared than she'd ever been, even when she'd watched that clown movie and had nightmares for a week about it. Chris realized this and put an arm around his baby sister.

Jenner came over and stood beside the siblings. "You're right." He said, looking down at Nikki. The girl looked back at him, obviously not pleased about that. Jenner looked back up at the screen. "They come back and they're nothing like they once were. They're dark. The human part, the frontal lobe, the neocortex, doesn't come back. They're just shells driven by mindless instinct." As he said these words, the figure on the screen started to move.

Everyone knew immediately that the person they'd been watching was now a Walker. The mouth opened and closed and the head was moving. The shoulders moved too and it almost looked like its arms were being lifted. Something appeared on the screen. It pointed down at the Walker's head at an angle. Nikki had just a split second to figure out that the thing was a gun before there was a bright white light that blinded the screen for a moment. When the light went away there was a clean path from the Walker's forehead to the back of the brain. It was all dark again. Completely dead. Nikki stared up at the screen, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide. She wished she'd never seen this. She wished she didn't know how the path a bullet made in a Walker's head looked. Especially after knowing that that brain had once been magnificent. Chris hugged his sister's shoulders tightly.

"God. What was that?" Carol asked. Nikki would have shot her a confused look if she wasn't so focused on the dead person on the screen. Couldn't she tell that Test Subject Nineteen had been shot?

"He shot his patient in the head." Andrea managed to say. Her voice was hoarse from held back crying. "Didn't you?" She asked the doctor. Nikki looked to the doctor and realized why he'd seemed sad a moment ago. He'd been there to see this person turn. He'd killed them himself.

"Vi, power down the main room and the work stations." Jenner said, ignoring Andrea's question. Vi did as she was told. Nikki felt a shiver go down her spine as the lights shut off. She'd never been a big fan of the dark if it was inside. She was fine being outside in the dark but inside? She had always felt like something was gonna kill her when all the lights in the house were out.

Chris turned her away from the now dark screen, making her look to the group. He didn't want her focusing on the dark or the brain they'd just watched turn. If she thought too much about any of what was bothering her she might end up having an anxiety attack. She'd had one during the first week or so of the outbreak and he didn't want her to have another. It had left her weak and scared. He hadn't been able to handle seeing her like that.

Andrea wiped her nose, sniffling. "You have no idea what it is, do you?" She questioned Jenner.

Jenner paused for a moment, probably unsure how to answer that question. "It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal." He told them.

"Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui suggested. She sounded like she believed that more than she believed the idea of it all being a virus.

"There is that." Jenner said, his eyes on the ground.

"Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere." Andrea said. She sounded better now, more angry than anything.

"Aren't there other facilities?" Nikki asked. Everyone looked at her and she felt her cheeks immediately heat up at the attention. She didn't know if she sounded stupid and she hoped that her next words didn't. She didn't want to appear stupid to them. "Our country can't be the only one that had a place like this. And the people there, they have to still be workin'. Right? At least some of them?" She said, focusing on Jenner so she wouldn't have to meet the eyes of any of the group. She'd stumble over her words and look nervous if she looked at any of them.

Jenner had to think it over a moment. "There may be some. People like me." He admitted, looking down at Nikki again. There seemed to be sadness in his eyes again when he talked about people out there being like him.

"But you don't know." Rick said. He stepped forward as if on reflex, as if to draw attention to himself. Nikki briefly wondered if it was a leader thing. "How can you not know?" He questioned the other man.

"Everything went down. Communications, directives, all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month." Jenner explained to their leader. Nikki stared around at the big room, at the emptiness of the facility. She wondered what it would be like to be so alone for so long. She worried for the man, wondering if he'd gone insane. Then she worried for them, what if he'd gone insane? What if he'd gone psycho? They'd end up dead. She pressed herself against her brother's side as she worried. Chris looked down at her in confusion but he didn't mind, if she needed to be close then he would let her be close. Anything to keep her alive and well. He wrapped his other arm around her, locking his hands together. He didn't care how they looked to the group. This was his sister; he'd do anything for her which included looking like an affectionate idiot.

"So it's not just here." Andrea said, drawing everyone's attention. There was something morbid about her face and expression. Like she had to hear it spoken. Like she had to have everyone know it. "There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?" Andrea questioned.

Jenner didn't speak. He opened his mouth to but then he closed it. Looks of horror appeared on a lot of people's faces, including Nikki's. Chris's expression became stony, unreadable. There was nothing. Jenner wasn't confirming or denying it but they could tell he just didn't want to tell them the truth. That there really was nothing and that they had nothing left. Nikki looked towards Andrea and she seemed almost sickened at the sight of the woman. "Why did you have to say that? Why?" She asked the woman, her voice quiet and sounding almost broken. Andrea looked over at her and almost looked ashamed. Chris pulled his sister away, towards Carol and Sophia. He glared viciously at the woman the whole time, making sure she knew he resented her for upsetting his sister.

"Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk. Again." Daryl said, rubbing his eyes with his hands. He rested his elbows on one of the computers and buried his face in his hands.

"Doctor Jenner." Dale spoke up. He seemed to be the only one capable of saying anything without distress in their voice. He walked around the computers, his eyes going back and forth between Jenner and something on the wall. "I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question but…that clock." Everyone looked over at the clock. Nikki noticed immediately that it was counting down and dread filled her. Countdowns weren't usually a good thing. "It's counting down. What happens at zero?" Dale asked, sounding almost curious.

"The—." Jenner stopped a moment and swallowed. He seemed to rethink his words. "The basement generators, they run out of fuel." He told them. He turned and started walking away.

"And then?" Rick questioned. Jenner glanced back at him but didn't answer. He just kept watching. Everyone watched him go, worry and anger and confusion gripping them tightly. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick asked the AI, his tone demanding an answer.

"When the power runs out, facility wide decontamination will occur." The AI answered. Nikki felt her stomach tighten, wondering exactly what the building had in mind when it said "decontamination."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all got to watch the season finale! I loved it! (P.S. I didn't get to proof read this so please excuse any spelling mistakes.)


End file.
